Annals of Aldamere

The Bovine and the Beast

Olis, Marcel, Gabriel, Gretta

The tracks discovered by Olis appeared to be those of a lone beast man, something that our woodwarde has not seen before—in point of fact, the woodwarde had run into a number of previously legendary things on his travels with Ser Mercel, and was wanting to return to his home sooner than later. The group followed the trail towards the lake, with Gretta trailing a bit distracted by another chunk of nearby Worlstone.

After arriving on the edge of the lake, the beast turned away and headed away towards the village of Albugang. Since that lay more than a day away, the group headed around the lake to an area of thick reeds revealing the location of a submerged and broken road leading out to the island. With the night falling, the Knight’s entourage set camp and watch to look for signs of brigands out on the lake.

By the wee hours of the morning, it was clear that there were no force of a robber baron hidden in the area, but that it was an unquieted, haunted place leaving Gretta particularly uncomfortable. Strange lights on the island demanded to be checked out, so on the morn the group forded across the shallows. Gretta, perhaps still shaken from a difficult night, fell deftly into the chilly waters. Gabriel was able to quickly recover her from get her safely to the island, and set up a warming fire quickly.

Exploring the island, Ser disturbed the rest of some apparition which took umbrage to his rearrangement of the ruins—themselves seemingly slightly better preserved than those on the shore, and made of more Worlstone which Gretta felt may have been chosen for it’s warding properties. With the power of the word of Thesme and the might of Ser’s arm, the spirit was dispersed and the group departed the island lest they rouse more restless spirits.

Having found no signs of brigands at either of our first two leads, Ser decided to track down the beast man should it be a sign of some further trouble, or—as those in Ubratsweiler indicated—some sure sign of heresy. Travelling some ways through the woods, we discovered an agitated crofter concerned over his even more agitated livestock. Tracks indicated that the beast man likely stayed a night in the barn engaging in some unspeakable abuse. Taking our leave of the farmer, the tracks lead off again to a bramble which the group flushed the creature out of with our approach. Gabriel was able to wound it, but it’s swift inhuman legs made a chase fruitless.

Having pushed it back away towards the lake, the group headed on to the village of Albugang, which turned out to be little more than a crossroads in the center of far flung farms. Greeted by Elder Matriz, Ser and his men were taken to an ancient amphitheater that served as the local kirche, looked over by Priest Sharl.

After some discussion with the Elder and the Priest, it was decided that Ser would track down the beast man to see if it was in fact a scout for some larger force—the village had some history with invitations from these creatures previously—in exchange for Sharl’s divining more about his mission and the location of the robber baron’s men. The woodwarde was dispatched to return home, and preparations were made to set off again after services of Thesme were rendered.